Electronic Proceedings of the Tenth Annual International Conference on Technology in Collegiate MathematicsChicago, Illinois, November 6-9, 1997Paper C003Cubic Equations - Their Presence, Importance and Applications in the Age of Technology |
Robert KrecznerDepartment of Mathematics and Computing University of Wisconsin Stevens Point, WI 54481 USA Phone: (715) 346-3754 Fax: (715) 346-4260 rkreczne@uwsp.edu list of all papers by this author |
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ABSTRACT
In this article we will attempt, with the help of modern mathematical technology, to revive an interest and research among teachers and students in cubic and higher order equations. The article, written in attractive Mathematica's notebook format, basically comprises two themes: It uses Mathematica 3.0 to discover simple and natural methods, algebra and calculus based methods, for solving exactly a cubic equation. Once the idea is discover, then the computation can be easily carried out by a hand, by anyone with standard algebra or calculus skills. In the second part we will show variety of different problems whose solution requires solving a non-trivial cubic equation. In that part we will take advantage of Mathematica to do the computation.Keyword(s): college algebra, Mathematica